On January 24, 2022, three men killed Moïse Mugenyi Kabagambe, a Congolese immigrant in Brazil, in a beach kiosk called Tropicália in Rio de Janeiro.
[5][6] On January 24, 2022, Moïse Mugenyi Kabagambe went to the Tropicália kiosk to collect two days' unpaid wages worth R$200 (US$38).
[7] A video circulated by the press and on social media,[8][9] shows Kabagambe arguing with an employee, who grabs a piece of wood.
[10] According to the local Instituto Médico Legal, the institution responsible for autopsies in Brazil, Kabagambe died due to blunt trauma to his chest.
[15] Lawyers for Carlos Fabio da Silva Muzi, the owner of Tropicália, ruled out any involvement with the death and said there was no debt to Kabagambe because he was not a fixed employee.
[23] In a joint statement, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), International Organization for Migration (IOM), and PARES Caritas RJ stated; "are following the case, hoping that the crime will be clarified.
At this moment, the organizations express their sincere condolences and solidarity to Kabagambe's family and to the Congolese community residing in Brazil.
[25] Human Rights Watch said the murder is "deplorable", and expressed solidarity with Kabagambe's family and the Congolese community in Brazil.
The diplomatic representation stated there are four other cases of Congolese people who have been murdered in Brazil still waiting for the results of police investigations.
[30] On January 31, 2022, a Twitter account that is supposedly connected to Anonymous released the name of a person who was thought to be the current owner of the kiosk in which Kabagambe was killed.
[38][39] Besides calling for justice for Kabagambe, the protests denounced racism, xenophobia, and police brutality against Black people in the country.
The protesters were in the city's downtown district near the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary of the Black Men of Saint Benedict, where a mass was underway.
[42] The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Curitiba criticized the protesters' actions, as did President Jair Bolsonaro, who until then had not commented on the killing of Kabagambe.